Open AccessDiagnosing radio plasma heating in the polar summer mesosphere using cross modulation: Theory and observations
Author(s) -
Senior A.,
Rietveld M. T.,
Kosch M. J.,
Singer W.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2010ja015379
Subject(s) - mesosphere , polar , computational physics , absorption (acoustics) , radio wave , ionosphere , electron , modulation (music) , atmospheric sciences , plasma , physics , distribution function , environmental science , geophysics , optics , thermodynamics , astronomy , stratosphere , acoustics , quantum mechanics
Radio heating of the free electrons in the mesosphere is an important diagnostic technique for the phenomenon of polar mesosphere summer echoes (PMSE). Due to a lack of suitable observations, the heating must be modeled when studying its effect on PMSE. In order to try to validate these models, the cross‐modulation technique was implemented at the EISCAT facility near Tromsø, Norway to compare the absorption of a diagnostic radio wave in the heated and unheated plasma. The results are compared to predictions from a model similar to that used for estimating the heating in PMSE studies. It is found that, after allowing for certain instrumental effects, the model overestimates the change in absorption of the diagnostic wave by a factor of 1.5–2.5. It is suggested that the assumption that the electron distribution function remains Maxwellian during heating could contribute to this discrepancy.